Meet the composer of 'SportsCenter' theme
September, 10, 2012
9/10/12
4:00
PM ET
By Rob Tobias | ESPN.com
Editor’s Note: As SportsCenter approaches its 50,000th episode (expected to be Thursday, Sept. 132s 6 p.m. ET show), ESPN's Front Row will present content related to the show and the milestone. Today, meet SportsCenter theme composer John Colby.
You may not know his name, or recognize his face, but millions of people are familiar with his work. What’s more, most of those millions have hummed at least a few bars of one song in particular. Thousands more use it as their ringtone.
For the last 20 years, John Colby, a Grammy and Emmy-winning composer, producer, music director and keyboardist, has created theme and background music for virtually every televised sporting event, including two Super Bowls.
As ESPN’s music director (1984-1992), Colby helped shape the sound of ESPN in those early years, composing and producing music for hundreds of ESPN sporting events and television programs.
All that said, Colby, 63, is perhaps best known for six simple musical notes he composed in 1989 ... six notes of an iconic melody heard every day by sports fans around the world — DaDaDa DaDaDa — part of the theme song to SportsCenter.
To read the rest, check it out on ESPN's Front Row here.
You may not know his name, or recognize his face, but millions of people are familiar with his work. What’s more, most of those millions have hummed at least a few bars of one song in particular. Thousands more use it as their ringtone.
For the last 20 years, John Colby, a Grammy and Emmy-winning composer, producer, music director and keyboardist, has created theme and background music for virtually every televised sporting event, including two Super Bowls.
As ESPN’s music director (1984-1992), Colby helped shape the sound of ESPN in those early years, composing and producing music for hundreds of ESPN sporting events and television programs.
All that said, Colby, 63, is perhaps best known for six simple musical notes he composed in 1989 ... six notes of an iconic melody heard every day by sports fans around the world — DaDaDa DaDaDa — part of the theme song to SportsCenter.
To read the rest, check it out on ESPN's Front Row here.

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